Plot

In Palm Springs, Jessica teams up with the local chief of police to figure out who killed a local investor and what happened to a large amount of money.

Jessica attends the ground breaking for a real estate project (in Palm Springs) that she invested in at her accountant's advice. Her observations there cause police Lieutenant J.T. Hanna to arrest Clark 's wife, Marian Randall, for his murder, which she denies, while the fortune he held for the project remains missing. After Marian's sister, Linda Dixon, puts up her house for bail, she commits suicide. But the combination of car-exhausts and the wrong pills prove that the suicide must have been staged. Despite Hanna's irritated instructions to butt out, Jessica sleuths on among the parties who lost in the deal, such as other investors, the fired banker who approved a fat loan and future residents who put up down-payments.—KGF Vissers

After California real estate developer Clark Randall is murdered, Jessica works with the local policeman Lt. J.T. Hanna to find the killer. When the police arrest Clark's wife, Marian Randall, for the murder, Jessica is in complete agreement. The woman swears up and down that she loved her husband and had nothing to do with his murder but the evidence is quite convincing. Once out on bail, Marian commits suicide and that seems to be the end of the case. Marian's sister, Linda Dixon, wants to clear her name, however, and won't stop pestering the police. The suicide appears to have been murder, however, and Jessica begins to re-examine her earlier conclusions.—garykmcd